Process for producing foam for treating textile materials.



I No Drawingl 1 der pressure and in astate; of fine division, more recently attempts have been made to- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

nEm': cum, on BASEL, SWITZERLAND.

PROCESS FOR PRODUCING- FOLM FOR TREATING TEXTILE To all whom it may concern: r

Be it known that I, Dr. Rnmi 'CLAVEL, manufacturer, a citizen of the SwissRepublie, and residentof. Basel, Switzerland, have invented anew and useful Processfor Producing Foam for Treating Textile Materials,

of which the following is ,a full, clear,"and

exact specification. I

- Processes are-lmown for treating textiles, such as silk, cotton or'wool, eithenraw: or finished,; with foam; Qriginally: the foam was produced by boiling solutions of materials adapted to foam and aiding hereby, if desired, the conversion of the solutions -into foam by injeeting-intothe solutions air unwork at lower temperatures by producing the foam; by diminishing the atmospheric pressure, so that 1 delicate textiles, particu- 'larly.v silk, might be successfully, treated.

The processes, therefore, depend upon a supply of heat'or steam or upon the action of a vacuum; the high temperature requires a rapid working and the vacuum'requires closed vessels.

By the present invention the production of foam is quite independent of the temperature of the foam bath, so that textiles which are sensitive to heat can be treated. The

foam is produced by the introduction into the solution or liquid, of air, oxygen or other oxidizing, reducing or indifferent gas under pressure, through finely porous bodies such as tubes or plates of unglazed earthenware, graphite or the like. Y

The liquid adapted to foam or the solution of a substance of a less foaming tendency,

is in this manner saturated with air or other gas and as an emulsion therewith brought into a foamingcondition. The foam is of extremely uniform fineness and may be obtained at any temperature from the freezing point to the boiling point of the liquid or solution The vigorous foaming of the liquid and the extraordinary fineness of the,

bubbles produce a constant circulation and contact of the bubbles with the fiber, so that constant movement of the textile goods is not necessary, whereby damage of the textile -fibers is avoided. Since the production of the foam is independent of the temperature, .the bubbles retain substantially their original size. depending only on the size of the pores-of the material through which the gas is forced and the pressure at which the fore- 1 Specification of Letters Patent.

may *be necessary.

foam made in this manner lasts along time and can be increased at will; moreover, the

Patented July 31, 1917. Application filed April 21, 1916. Serial No. 92,775. I v

ing occurs. It follows that the fineness bf 'the foam" may be.varied as desired. The

whole foam bath is not subject to theoscil- =1 lat ons of. temperature attendant upon boiling and a predetermined -temperature and depth "of'rfoam can bemaintainedieasily as For degumming silk to operate at 7 595 Cfi- The'air intimately emulsified in large quantity with the "foam favors the by its oxidizingand mechanical action, so that the operation oecupies a shorter time than is thecase when the foam is produced 'only'by boiling'or by the action'of a vacuum. 'At the same time the lossof-liquid fromVthe-bath is inconsiderable', since the operation is conducted at a'temperature-below-the-boiling point.

--By emulsifying an oxidizing gas, such as air, oxygen or gas containing oxygen,'in thel foam, the duration of the de-gumming,

owing to the oxidizing action of the gas may be reduced by more than half of the duration of the usual boiling-oil process, and con' trariwise by emulsifying a reducing gas in the foam the degumming may be prolonged far beyond the usual duration of the operation.

As is lmown, during the formation of silk thread production of sericin occurs, which is to be referred to the oxidizing action of the air. Probably, during this process only the outer layers form finished sericin, which is separated from the fibroin core by parts gradually less completely oxidized to sericin from the exterior to the interior.

If, for instance, care is taken for abundant access of oxygen during degumming, I the eompletephange of the. said incompletely their separation from. fibroin, occurs more quickly, that is to say, the de-gumming 1s of shorter'duration.

This effect may also be achieved by adding salts which yield oxygen in nascent condi-- tion.b Such aion admit; from oibjection ecause y em e nascen gas from the salt, the fibers are not For weighting silk the process presents the further advantage that the silk may be treated at a comparatively low temperature. with any desired weighting-foam. As is known, for phosphate baths the temperature oxidized parts into sericin, and therefore I of the liquid should not exceed 75 C. and v l. u I

it is "advantageous gumming in which process the silk receives an extraordinary'luster; Furthermore, restextiles, foi msta n ervation of the goods',;.as well as a uni orm weighting processigge by the vigorin deg-reasi 7 and #001; for it is possible to Work with emulsions in the gas foam of solvents for fat such as 'hydrm carbons, carbon bisulfid, various chlorids of carbon, saturated and unsaturated, or alcoholic substances; the bubbles containing the respective vapor or gas act on the material completely, quickly and with thorough extraction.

The'invention is also applicable in dyeing, soaping, degreasing, fixing, mordanting, vat dyeing or developin dyes at any desired temperature, there being used an indiiferent, oxidizing, reducing or other chemically acting gas, or mixture thereof, and the textile material being in any form, such as skeins or webs, whether raw, bleached or printed.

What I claim is:

1. A process for producing at any desired temperature foam for treating textile materials, by introducing a gas under pressure into the liquid necessary for the desired treatment through finely porous material, so as to produce foam bubbles with which the gas is emulsified and is in condition to act mechanically on the textile material.

2. A process for producing at any desired temperature foam for treating textile materials by introducing a chemically active gas under pressure into the liquid necessary for the desired treatment through finely porous material, so as to produce foam bubbles with which the gas is emulsified and is in condition to act chemically and at the sametime v mechanically on the textile material.

3. A process for producing at any desired temperature foam or treating textile materials by introduc' an oxidizing gas under pressure into the iquid nry for the desired treatment through finely porous material, so as to produce foam bubbles with which the gas is emulsified and is in condition to act in oxidizing manner and at the same time mechanically on the textile material. r

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name this 20th day of March, 1916, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DR. RENE CLAVEL.

Witnesses ARNOLD ZUBER, AID/LAND BITTER. 

